Tomorrow America celebrates the men and women who laid it all on the line throughout the history of our country to protect the freedoms and the rights reserved by all American citizens. One of those veterans, from right here in Wellington, will be a part of the Veteran's Day Program at 10 a.m. at the high school.
Hovering in the skies above the Vietnam landscape during the late 60s was Capt. Doug Smith. Smith was a part of the First Infantry Division of the Aviation Battalion for the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers.
Smith was born in Hutchinson, his family moved to Wellington when he was in the second grade. He graduated with the class of 1964 from WHS. He spent a short time at Wichita State University, but in March of 1966 Smith volunteered for the draft. He requested to attend air born rangers’ school for Vietnam from which he graduated in '68. On January 13, 1969, Smith went to Vietnam.
Under the call sign "Ghost-rider 6" Smith was a co-pilot in a Huey helicopter. Eventually the captain would pilot solo in a Cayuse 0H-6 helicopter, known as a Loach. Smith said he has flown about every kind of mission a person can in a helicopter, from delivering pumpkin pies to the troops on the ground, medical evacuations and carrying away the bodies of fallen soldiers. An interesting fact that Smith point out about his time in Vietnam, his helicopter never got hit by a bullet.
“That’s really unusual, normally your aircraft will get hit, but I never took a round,” Smith said. “It’s just luck.”
Capt. Smith also emphasized how lucky he was getting to serve his tour of duty in the air and pays much respect to the soldiers that were fighting the battles on the ground.
“Make no bones about it, I was very fortunate,” Smith commented. Listening to some of the stories Smith recalled, luck seemed to be a unifying theme. One of the stories Smith told involved him and another soldier. They were throwing grenades trying to burn tall grass away from a highway so the enemy couldn’t set up an ambush.
Smith said all of a sudden there was an explosion that went off underneath the two men. At the time Smith thought it was an artillery misfire, but one of the soldiers had stepped on an anti-tank landmine. The mine had blown the solders arms and legs off; Smith transported him to the nearby M-A-S-H unit.
“I saw the horror in the medics faces as they unloaded him,” Smith said.
Another story the captain told, also involving grenades, this time in mid-air with Smith piloting his Loach. Smith and Company Cmdr. Harvey Kelly were clearing our Enemy troops from a wooded area by dropping hand grenades from the helicopter to the ground.
“It’s just like kids throwing cherry bombs,” Smith recollected. “It’s a lot of fun…until he [Kelly] dropped one on the floor of the helicopter after he pulled out the pen.” Smith was sure death was seconds away, in one last maneuver, Smith pulled back on the controls moving the helicopter backwards. In doing so the grenade rolled out in front of the Kelly’s foot, at which point the commander kicked it out of the aircraft.
“I told Harvey, ‘you don’t tell anyone about this and I won’t tell anyone,’” Smith said. “That was unreal.” Smith said that those are just a couple of memories he took away from his nine and a half years in the military. While serving the country, Capt. Smith took a correspondence course in criminology from the University of Minnesota, he eventually earned a masters degree in education.
After his years of service, Smith ran a storm door and window company, Home Energy Products, for 30 years. He is now retired, living in Wellington with his wife Ilene. There are several different organizations Smith is a part of that help him keep in touch with the soldiers he went to war with — The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots, Combat Pilots Association, First Century Association just to name a few.
The retired captain earned 22 air medals while he was in the military. Smith will be giving the Veteran’s Day proclamation at the Veteran’s Day program tomorrow.
“The fact that we were called to duty and we did it,” Smith said is the reason it is important to honor America’s veterans and those currently serving the country.
Ghost-rider 6 will always remember Vietnam, the friends he made and the ones who didn’t make it back home. Smith cherishes the time he spent in the service of our nation.
“Excluding the birth of my children and the marriage to my present wife, Vietnam is the best time I ever had,” Smith said.
Wellington, Kan. —
